As a tech enthusiast, one of the things I like about Google mail is the ongoing tweaking and innovating with the service. Sometimes changes are annoying at first (the user interface was "streamlined" a few weeks ago and I didn't like it), sometimes changes don't help that much (Google Buzz certainly did not revolutionize the way I connect and engage with my friends and associates) but sometimes the improvements are hugely beneficial. Since Priority Inbox was announced last week I have been waiting eagerly for it to be activated in my accounts so I can try it out and share my learnings with the Kabissa community. New services tend to be rolled out slowly as Google looks for and irons out bugs, and it took a week this time for Priority Inbox to finallyarrive in my Kabissa mailboxes (though not yet in my gmail.com mailbox). 

At first glance I like Priority Inbox very much - it adds a new label above the Inbox which presents your incoming email in three categories: important and unread, starred, and everything else. It uses the same automatic algorithms it uses for spam filtering to decide what is important ("based on what you read") and lets you train it by indicating whether it was right or not. Time will tell how well it actually works, and part of the idea is that it will in fact get better with time as it "learns" your priorities.

I think Priority Inbox is a great idea and will be very useful, especially for those in Africa who struggle to make maximum use of the limited time they have in front of Internet connected computers to get their work done. On the other hand, as usual this raises questions about Google and privacy, and how much we can afford to allow corporations like Google to know so much about what we are corresponding about and with whom. For African activists and journalists, keeping certain activities and relationships secret can be a matter of life and death. Perhaps they should not be using gmail. I've already talked about the risks of Facebook for activists - now do we also have to worry about our email? What are the alternatives? 

What do you think?

Below is a copy of the email I received in my inbox explaining the new service and linking to an introductory video with quite the peppy sound track. 

Oxfam Deutschland has graciously agreed to host hands-on CiviCRM workshops on October 6-7, targeting nonprofits using (or considering) CiviCRM in their organizations as well as web developers that want to add CiviCRM implementation and customization to their toolchest.

CiviCRM is available as a companion module for Drupal and Joomla content management systems, and like these tools is also open source software and available as a free download.

The CiviCRM team have also agreed to give a quick overview of CiviCRM on October 5 at the Socialbar ("ein Treffen von Weltverbesserern" = a social event for dogooders).

Workshop Registration is open!  

If you are interested in participating in the workshops, see the following links to learn more and to register: 

• Berlin user and administrator training : Oct 06, 2010 9:00 AM
• Berlin developer and implementer training : Oct 07, 2010 9:00 AM

If you have any questions about the event, feel free to contact me as I am helping to coordinate the event. 

As you will see, the trainers have an agile approach and the agenda is still not set in stone. It will be finalized at the event so that the workshop can be tailored to the participants. CiviCRM is fairly feature rich, so before you come be sure to review the CiviCRM manual and take CiviCRM for a test drive. 

I have been a member of CIVICUS (http://www.civicus.org) since it was founded in the mid-1990’s. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is an international alliance of NGOs (Civil Society Organizations in CIVICUS parlance) and partners who work together “to strengthen citizen action and civil society throughout the world”. In its short life CIVICUS has been enormously successful but has also carried the weight of “being many things to many people” in the international NGO world.

The 2nd annual FACT Social Justice Challenge calls for your innovative Projects that leverage web and/or mobile technologies to foster collaboration around social justice issues. Submissions are now open! You can submit your Project idea from today through October 4th. But remember: you can continue to edit, improve and add to your Project throughout that time – so submit today!

As the flood waters begin to recede across Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says the government is now “seriously concerned” about the potential spread of epidemic diseases.

The flooding has left more than 1,600 people dead and approximately six million homeless. According to the BBC, about 17 million of Pakistan’s 166 million people have been affected by the disaster. In addition, the United Nations warns that without enough doctors or proper facilities, over 100,000 pregnant women are now at risk of infection and disease.

2010 WORLD DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR ROAD TRAFFIC VICTIMS -CALL FOR PARTICIPATION The third Sunday of November each year is designated as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims to remember the over one million people killed and 20 to 50 million injured in road traffic crashes each year worldwide, and to draw attention to the devastating consequences of these deaths on families and communities.

Road Traffic Accident (RTA) is a common occurence on Nigeria roads. Its effect is ernomous, but the more devastating is the gruesome pain its causes its victims before life is finally sniffed out. RTA has been reported by experts as among causes of National economic retrogression and poverty to families which presently is affecting Nigeria as a nation and many families that are affected cannot be healed of its traumic effect.

For the first time ever, members of the Hamar tribe in Minogelti, Ethiopia are running a business. A sustainable business that employs four members of the tribe. These are the community's first jobs.

If you use Facebook, you are now potentially broadcasting your location to your "Facebook friends" or the world.

Accident Prevention and Rescue Initiative has called on the Federal and State Government in Nigeria to intensify road safety efforts to avert further killing of road users.